Silena I love the community circle (especially the name) concept for introducing a lesson, very unintimidating. I also really liked the ridiculous example of a "half of child", that would surely get their attention. - JM
Silena, The half of a child is a great way to start. I also like your ideas of how you would go about assessing the students with many different techniques being used not only independently but also as the whole group. - Jim
Hi Silena - Your class description is very realistic and I can completely visualize the structure of the classroom. It seems to be very well run and I think you would be able to effectively teach the material as well as keep the kids on task, entertained, and interested in the material. - Stephanie
Silena, I also really liked the half of a child idea. Kids really like to talk about stuff like that and have the opportunity to make things fun so I think that is a great things to add. I also enjoyed that you greeted them with a smile to show them that you are excited about the activity and that will make them excited to come back. Great activity!- Tess
Hi Tess, I'm confused. Help. I tried to read yours but when I clicked the above link, Nikki's came up. I must have done something wrong! Sorry. Silena
Tess,
The same thing happened when I tried to open yours and Ray's. I got Nikki's. She keeps popping up all over! It's possible that you have the exact same file name and something happened with the system. Maybe change your file name and repost yours will help! Sorry.
Raquel
Sarah- I love the concept of a "detective clue." I have been thinking about how I could use that throughout my teaching when introducing a new topic. It is such an attention-getter and sparks such imagination and creativity. -Amy
Hi Sarah - I REALLY like your idea of the "fitting partners!" I just found out that I will be introducing fractions for my 1st grade observed lesson for field experience 2 and I am definitely going to use your technique for that class! I thought the concept was great and your class description was very creative. - Stephanie
SP - I loved your lesson. The kids were up moving around and using "Math talk". I think it would be very interesting to hear the terminology the students would be using. It would probably be beneficial to write their words down, or try to remember them, for future explaining of the topic. Sometimes I think teachers talk over students when trying to explain something. By using their own words and ways to explain the topic, you can help bring yourself down to their level. I really liked your lesson! - Lindsay Zahner
The "light bulb" going on is the most rewarding thing! This is my favorite part of working in the classroom in my field experience.
Nick
Sarah- I thought your detective clue was so great and the way you made them find their partners was great because it got them moving and thinking but best of all it made sure that nobody would feel left out or like nobody wanted to be their partner. Great idea! -Tess
Jan- There were two things specificially that jumped out at me in your lesson. One was the cross-curricular nature of doing a math lesson dealing with food choices. I loved the pictures to get them thinking and the discussion about breakfast to make the lesson real to each of the students. It uses an incredibly significant lesson on good food choices to accomplish to accomplish math and reasoning goals, fantastic! I also like the if... then... language. That could be used in a number of settings throughout the year and helps to reinforce how things in our world interact. Great job! -Amy
Jan, I really liked how you were going to start out the lesson by asking the students what they had for breakfast. Just like you said in your paper, then you can see which students are at least getting breakfast in the morning before they come to school. I like all the different station ideas that were mentioned, I think that would help the students by seeing many different areas rather than just a couple. - Jim
Jan - Your lesson was awesome! I really liked how you introduced it, specifically using food as the attention getter. Food is something that all children can relate to, as they use it on a daily basis. I liked how the students were doing Math without really knowing they were doing Math. They were not filling out worksheets or solving word problems quietly at their desk...they were up, moving around the room, interacting with their peers. They were solving a Math problem, and using Math logic, without even really knowing it! I also liked that you gave them a granola bar once they figured out the problem. It keeps the lesson in real-life. - Lindsay Zahner
Jan, I really liked how you got the children involved by being able to talk about themselves. Kids love to talk about themselves so getting asked what they had for breakfast will be a great treat for them. I also liked how you involved transition music and also told use how you would get their attention back by saying "high five". It was great that you also included writing because that is often left out of math and there is really no reason that it should be. Great job! -Tess
Nick,
I like the human clock activity as a form of assessment. The kids are having fun while the teacher is "grading" them for competence. Nice! FYI: My senior daughter can not read a clock because of her math learning disability called dyscalculia. If you have a student that really struggles with math sense, place value, etc. and who always can not seem to figure out a clock, it may be an indication that there's a bigger problem. Thanks! Silena
Nick,
The group activity with the tallest and shortest student representing the hands of the clock sounds like a blast. I have done activites like this with smaller children as they form shapes and letters and even taken over head camera shots for them to see later. The variety in your lesson is wonderful.
Sarah
Nick,
You have some really creative and fun ways for students to practice their new time telling skills while you assess them for learning. Your description of Time Tick Tack Toe sounds, to me, a little like Bingo. I really like your human clock idea. It satisfies students' needs to move around as they learn.
Lori
Nick, I like how you were going to personalize the students telling time by using something that they would be familiar with, such as a baseball. I also like your idea of having struggling students work with students that may be excelling at telling time. I think using the white boards is a really good idea because then everyone can show you their answer right away. - Jim
I liked what you said about the problem of the day and having it incorperate your students into the problems. I think this is an easy way to get their attention. I liked that you planned on doing formal and informal assessment. I was thinking about your decision to use the formal assessment and I decided that in a 5th grade class it is essencial to get the students ready for jr. high and that it would be hard to avoid formal assesment the way I think it can be done in earlier grades. Nikki
Ray,
For some reason, when I tried to open yours and Tess's, I got Nikki's. She keeps popping up! Maybe you had the exact same file name and the system got confused! Hopefully if you change the file name and try to repost yours it will help. Sorry!
Raquel
Eric your lesson plan and the way to teach it to your kids is really well thought out. Your strategies to utilize team teaching is really smart.
I especially like your comment of quality being more important than quantity, it helps stress high quality work and that might mean working a little slower. - JM
Eric-I like how you said you will look at the students and they will know when to start. The great teacher look! You know you've made it when you can master this!
Nick
Eric, I liked your part about assessing non verbal cues. I've found that last week when I was teaching a 5th grade math lesson that I was looking around the room to see if the students were getting what I was talking about or not. And if I wasn't sure I asked them to reiterate the lesson to me. Non verbal cues can say a lot about what is happening with a student.
Rachel Blohm
Lindsay I would love to be in your classroom. Of course the yoga will work great and your kids will be ready to roll.
I like the way you broke out the time elements, very good thing to get used to doing. Great lesson, strategies and implementation. - J
LZ
This is great. I am using this right away!! We love the Foot Book. I'll tell you how it goes. I liked your detail about your EBD student. I liked that you broke it into 10ish minute segments, because thats about the attention span. Well done.
Lindsay,
What fun! First off, I thoroughly enjoyed the smooth transition in going from the hall and into the classroom to do Yoga. I really liked our "think," "share," and "pair" method. This would help prepare students for new learning by connecting them to previous knowledge. Reading the Foot Book is a wonderful way to gain the interest of the class. Everyone loves Dr. Suess! And the rain stick idea . . . love it! I actually have one of those. I just never thought of using it for getting the attention of my students. I'll have to try that! Thanks for the ideas.
Laura
LZ
I love it and the 1st graders would too! The time frame set ups are a clear way to present the flow to the lesson, I love your ending in reference to it not always going according to the planned time frame - as we spend more time in classrooms it becomes evident this is part of life and making learning flexibly fun!!! You can tell you have had EBD experience and the need for flexibility there is also relevant and evident. The flow of tying it all together over multiple subject areas was also noticable -Nicely done, high quality work Mrs. Z!
Sarah
LZ,
I liked how detail oriented you were in your lesson. Breaking everything down to ten miutes or so is great given the length of the math block. I also thought your use of Dr. Suess was good too. Who doesn't like his books? Lastly, I thought the yoga technique of relaxation could really be good. I might have to learn some yoga poses to incorporate into class. Where can I get one of those relaxation/yoga CDs?
EP
EP - I have a book I'll bring to class next week if I remember. It's very visual with lots of graphics...a quick read. You can make copies at Marian if you want.
Nikki, Your side note at the bottom of your paper cracked me up! Too true my friend, you don't have a math class yet but if you did and it was like your paper Glasser and Mary Poppins would be proud. I really liked your suggestion about whispering your answers to your students to encourage them to be calm after recess. Also, I loved the understanding your paper showed about working with students with attention issue. Your tactics would prevent frustration for your students and yourself. Silena
BTW: I think something went wrong or I'm confused because when I thought I clicked on Tess's above, your document came up. Weird. ???
Nikki
I thought the idea of you sitting on the carpet with your class is a great idea. The "old" way of teaching has the teacher standing in front of the class, in your class you are literally showing the class that you are at their level. This goes along way toward showing that everyone in the room is equal and that everyone can learn from each other.
Ray
Nikki, I always love watching the calendar time in elementary classrooms. I really enjoyed how you mentioned that students were encouraged to make good choices when they sat next to others. I think too often teachers get upset because students are chatting instead of listening, yet they've never been coached on the fact that they need to make a concious effort on who to sit next to. That they do, in fact, have the opportunity to sit next to who ever they want...it doesn't always have to be their best friend. Your Math classroom sounds very fun! Students are moving around and interacting together. The idea of using the calendar is a great way to make math real-life for the students. Lindsay Zahner
Lori- I enjoyed your "attention getter" with the series of commands. It offers some sillyness, gives time for everyone to join in, helps students transition into a time of focus, and helps you know if you have everyone's attention. Super cute idea! -Amy
Lori- I like how you would use the popcicle stick method of choosing groups. I have used this before and it is a great way to be sure the groups are random. Ray
Lori- As I read the comments that were written ahead of mine, I see they are very similiar to my own. Your method of gaining the classes attention is one that I think would work in any class level, who doesn't like a quick game of "simon says"! I know I am going to use it this week with my middle school students. The use of popsicle sticks is one that I use often, infact at the start of each year the students take great joy in either decorating a new stick or recycling the one from last year. I would also like to comment on your list of processes. One that I completely missed was the use of math as a language, using the mathematic terms. I was very lacking in not using that in my own. very good job! David
Raquel - Your lesson idea sounds like a great way to connect math with everyday life. It gives students the message that we can do math anytime, anywhere - and have fun with it! I love the Hershey's Milk Chocolate series of math books. What surprised me when I read your post is that either you have a small time frame within which to work or your students are struggling so that only three different problems would be a big challenge for them.
Lori
Raquel, I have that book and I LOVE that book! Good choice. I certainly would have enjoyed math so much more in elementary if there had been chocolate involved. Great ideas! Silena
Hi Raquel- I remember when you discussed that book in our Literacy class and it was great to be able to see an example of how to use it in a classroom setting. You did a great job of applying the concepts of the book as well as applying accurate assessment techniques. I think the kids would enjoy using the book and the "chocolate" to count with... although I'm pretty sure they would like at least one of those pieces of "chocolate" to be real! - Stephanie
Raquel - I know I am being repetitive of the other posts above but GREAT BOOK CHOICE, I have this book at home for my own children. This book accomplishes so much!!!
Sarah
Amy,
I love the explanation of your 10,9,8... blast off. I think this would be beneficial to students if it was consistently used to remind them of their focus and then lead you right to a simple statement of the lessons objective and then beginning. This gives them the focus and understanding of the control of themselves and their own learning but makes it clear you are ready for the buisness at hand. You also did a wonderful job in the way you displayed your meeting of needs portion - I would love to use this on each lesson plan.
Sarah
Amy- I took notice of the section you wrote on how you planned on motivating your students. I looked at the grade level and I cannot agree more. At this age students love to get involved in discussions. when you give 2nd graders the chance to talk and answer questions in an open forum like the one you are setting up, wonderful things happen. I sometimes wonder what happens to that when they get to middle school and I spend the whole first Trimester getting them to talk again! of course then I have to spend the second one getting them to understand WHEN to talk! David
Amy,
I had no idea that a raisin could be used in so many ways!!! I loved this lesson. The cards are a great way to divide the class into groups. In the beginning of class you laid out the expectations for the groups. Clear expectations are necessary for success. I also liked how you defined an estimation as a reasonabe guess. I've discovered that the concept of a "reasonable" guess is hard for little ones to wrap their minds around. It is fun to throw in some "unreasonable" examples in order to demonstrate the difference between the two. The 1-minute warning is an excellent way to keep the students on track and help them to quickly organize their ideas. It is interesting how you end the class with individuals talking about their feelings when working together as a group. Very fun lesson!
I used an idea from the Burn's book to get started on page 234.
Rachel,
I like your idea for drawing the eyes because it represents the problem visually for students so they can better understand it to solve it. Having students physically represent and solve the problems not only meets their needs for laughter and experimentation, but also their need to be active. By meeting the needs of visual, audio, and kinesthetic learners, hopefully they will learn, well, twice as much!
Lori
Rachel,
I just read Lori's post and realized that we observed the same thing from your lesson. I too liked the idea of using the students' eyes to start the process of multiplying 2's. All the students should have 2 eyes so it should work spectacularly! What better way to get their attention than to use something they have on their own bodies and can see on their peers.
Raquel
Rachel,
There were two things in particular that I liked about your lesson. First, I thought it was great how you asked the "real world" questions about "twice as much." This makes the lesson applicable. Second, I thought it was great how you incorporated the discussion of how they answered their questions on the white board. Again reinforcing what they have learned.
Eric
Rachel,
I'm going to use white boards so much when I have my ownclassroom. They are such a tool in the class and a great way to assess as we go.
Nick
Hi Jim, As I read your lesson, I could just see you in the classroom. The kids are going to love you! I loved your way of allowing the kids to share about their breaks to help redirect them slowing back into learning mode and the way you decided to review and refresh their memories after the break. I wonder if you will use the same hat that you typically use to keep your head warm in class? (: Silena
Jim- I very much agreed with you and Silena that allowing your students a few moments to discuss their break (or even other topics) will help settle them down after a time of high excitement and activity. I use it after we come back from days off as well. The activity you chose was very interesting and I could see students of this age participating. I reread it to determine your source of assessment. I think that listening to their discussions while playing the game will truly show thier depth of learning and understanding. The leader's of each group will naturally raise their hands to answer, but hopefully all will participae when in their groups. I also use my wide brimmed straw hat from my geology field days to have students choose topics, groups, and any number of other things. The students always get a thrill when they see it sitting on my work table ready for action. David
Jim, I like how you want to ease the students back into school work with a fun math game to get them going again on what you taught before break. Great idea! I also agree with David that having the students talk about their break for a few minutes is a great way to get that out of the way so the students can focus on school work again. I never thought of something like that but it makes a lot of sense to help keep the students in learning mode.
Rachel Blohm
Stephanie,
I really liked your idea considering their compliementary abilities for the pre-established partners along with including that the pairs may be based on a mentor situation. Sometimes, that can be so true in a classroom - mentoring among the students! A concept that I hadn't considered for 1st grade math is using the students themselves for an addition/subtraction activity. How better to get them actively involved in the process of learning!
Raquel
Stephanie,
I really liked your idea of using the children as the "counting tool." Not only does this force the kids into paying attention and being part of the problem, but it also teaches them teamwork in trying to figure out the equation. Lastly, since first graders are usually eager to learn and participate, using the strategy of the quiet group gets to answer might work.
Eric
Stephanie, I like how you pair up your students with mentors or those that can help each other out. I think that is a great way for students to feed off each other's knowledge. And pulling groups aside sounds like your doing something like a writer's workshop but for math and i think that's a great idea! It's another way to assess knowledge and give the individual attention to some students that may really need it.
Rachel Blohm
Dave
I agree with you about the importance of welcoming your students into your classroom. It lets them know you care and helps build a sense of community that is so important in making all students achieve their best.
Ray
Dave,
I have long been an advocate for teachers greeting the students in the hallway. The middle school I currently work at, the teachers are in the hallways between the classes or at least standing at their doorways. When I worked at the high school level, this was not the case and I can tell a difference in the sense of community because of it. Granted, the kids are different and so are the teachers. I agree that you learn various dynamics of the students by being the hallway.
Regarding your attention grabber of the story about the International Space Station, that got MY attention! Corresponding and working with the other core teachers for cross curricular correlation is fabulous! It sounds like the kids would learn about the metric system with various applications...not just science which will only reinforce for them the importance of this knowledge.
This is the power point you need.
Silena Hammond's Processes of Math assignment:
Silena I love the community circle (especially the name) concept for introducing a lesson, very unintimidating. I also really liked the ridiculous example of a "half of child", that would surely get their attention. - JM
Silena, The half of a child is a great way to start. I also like your ideas of how you would go about assessing the students with many different techniques being used not only independently but also as the whole group. - Jim
Hi Silena - Your class description is very realistic and I can completely visualize the structure of the classroom. It seems to be very well run and I think you would be able to effectively teach the material as well as keep the kids on task, entertained, and interested in the material. - Stephanie
Silena, I also really liked the half of a child idea. Kids really like to talk about stuff like that and have the opportunity to make things fun so I think that is a great things to add. I also enjoyed that you greeted them with a smile to show them that you are excited about the activity and that will make them excited to come back. Great activity!- Tess
Tess Collins' processes of doing math
Hi Tess, I'm confused. Help. I tried to read yours but when I clicked the above link, Nikki's came up. I must have done something wrong! Sorry. Silena
Tess,
The same thing happened when I tried to open yours and Ray's. I got Nikki's. She keeps popping up all over! It's possible that you have the exact same file name and something happened with the system. Maybe change your file name and repost yours will help! Sorry.
Raquel
Sarah Patschke's Processes of Math assignment
Sarah- I love the concept of a "detective clue." I have been thinking about how I could use that throughout my teaching when introducing a new topic. It is such an attention-getter and sparks such imagination and creativity. -Amy
Hi Sarah - I REALLY like your idea of the "fitting partners!" I just found out that I will be introducing fractions for my 1st grade observed lesson for field experience 2 and I am definitely going to use your technique for that class! I thought the concept was great and your class description was very creative. - Stephanie
SP - I loved your lesson. The kids were up moving around and using "Math talk". I think it would be very interesting to hear the terminology the students would be using. It would probably be beneficial to write their words down, or try to remember them, for future explaining of the topic. Sometimes I think teachers talk over students when trying to explain something. By using their own words and ways to explain the topic, you can help bring yourself down to their level. I really liked your lesson! - Lindsay Zahner
The "light bulb" going on is the most rewarding thing! This is my favorite part of working in the classroom in my field experience.
Nick
Sarah- I thought your detective clue was so great and the way you made them find their partners was great because it got them moving and thinking but best of all it made sure that nobody would feel left out or like nobody wanted to be their partner. Great idea! -Tess
Jan Marnocha - Processes of Math
Jan- There were two things specificially that jumped out at me in your lesson. One was the cross-curricular nature of doing a math lesson dealing with food choices. I loved the pictures to get them thinking and the discussion about breakfast to make the lesson real to each of the students. It uses an incredibly significant lesson on good food choices to accomplish to accomplish math and reasoning goals, fantastic! I also like the if... then... language. That could be used in a number of settings throughout the year and helps to reinforce how things in our world interact. Great job! -Amy
Jan, I really liked how you were going to start out the lesson by asking the students what they had for breakfast. Just like you said in your paper, then you can see which students are at least getting breakfast in the morning before they come to school. I like all the different station ideas that were mentioned, I think that would help the students by seeing many different areas rather than just a couple. - Jim
Jan - Your lesson was awesome! I really liked how you introduced it, specifically using food as the attention getter. Food is something that all children can relate to, as they use it on a daily basis. I liked how the students were doing Math without really knowing they were doing Math. They were not filling out worksheets or solving word problems quietly at their desk...they were up, moving around the room, interacting with their peers. They were solving a Math problem, and using Math logic, without even really knowing it! I also liked that you gave them a granola bar once they figured out the problem. It keeps the lesson in real-life. - Lindsay Zahner
Jan, I really liked how you got the children involved by being able to talk about themselves. Kids love to talk about themselves so getting asked what they had for breakfast will be a great treat for them. I also liked how you involved transition music and also told use how you would get their attention back by saying "high five". It was great that you also included writing because that is often left out of math and there is really no reason that it should be. Great job! -Tess
Nick Vogt Processes of Math
Nick,
I like the human clock activity as a form of assessment. The kids are having fun while the teacher is "grading" them for competence. Nice! FYI: My senior daughter can not read a clock because of her math learning disability called dyscalculia. If you have a student that really struggles with math sense, place value, etc. and who always can not seem to figure out a clock, it may be an indication that there's a bigger problem. Thanks! Silena
Nick,
The group activity with the tallest and shortest student representing the hands of the clock sounds like a blast. I have done activites like this with smaller children as they form shapes and letters and even taken over head camera shots for them to see later. The variety in your lesson is wonderful.
Sarah
Nick,
You have some really creative and fun ways for students to practice their new time telling skills while you assess them for learning. Your description of Time Tick Tack Toe sounds, to me, a little like Bingo. I really like your human clock idea. It satisfies students' needs to move around as they learn.
Lori
Nick, I like how you were going to personalize the students telling time by using something that they would be familiar with, such as a baseball. I also like your idea of having struggling students work with students that may be excelling at telling time. I think using the white boards is a really good idea because then everyone can show you their answer right away. - Jim
Ray Cash - Processes of Doing Math
I liked what you said about the problem of the day and having it incorperate your students into the problems. I think this is an easy way to get their attention. I liked that you planned on doing formal and informal assessment. I was thinking about your decision to use the formal assessment and I decided that in a 5th grade class it is essencial to get the students ready for jr. high and that it would be hard to avoid formal assesment the way I think it can be done in earlier grades. Nikki
Ray,
For some reason, when I tried to open yours and Tess's, I got Nikki's. She keeps popping up! Maybe you had the exact same file name and the system got confused! Hopefully if you change the file name and try to repost yours it will help. Sorry!
Raquel
eric's process of doing math
Eric your lesson plan and the way to teach it to your kids is really well thought out. Your strategies to utilize team teaching is really smart.
I especially like your comment of quality being more important than quantity, it helps stress high quality work and that might mean working a little slower. - JM
Eric-I like how you said you will look at the students and they will know when to start. The great teacher look! You know you've made it when you can master this!
Nick
Eric, I liked your part about assessing non verbal cues. I've found that last week when I was teaching a 5th grade math lesson that I was looking around the room to see if the students were getting what I was talking about or not. And if I wasn't sure I asked them to reiterate the lesson to me. Non verbal cues can say a lot about what is happening with a student.
Rachel Blohm
Lindsay Zahner - Process of Doing Math
Lindsay I would love to be in your classroom. Of course the yoga will work great and your kids will be ready to roll.
I like the way you broke out the time elements, very good thing to get used to doing. Great lesson, strategies and implementation. - J
LZ
This is great. I am using this right away!! We love the Foot Book. I'll tell you how it goes. I liked your detail about your EBD student. I liked that you broke it into 10ish minute segments, because thats about the attention span. Well done.
Lindsay,
What fun! First off, I thoroughly enjoyed the smooth transition in going from the hall and into the classroom to do Yoga. I really liked our "think," "share," and "pair" method. This would help prepare students for new learning by connecting them to previous knowledge. Reading the Foot Book is a wonderful way to gain the interest of the class. Everyone loves Dr. Suess! And the rain stick idea . . . love it! I actually have one of those. I just never thought of using it for getting the attention of my students. I'll have to try that! Thanks for the ideas.
Laura
LZ
I love it and the 1st graders would too! The time frame set ups are a clear way to present the flow to the lesson, I love your ending in reference to it not always going according to the planned time frame - as we spend more time in classrooms it becomes evident this is part of life and making learning flexibly fun!!! You can tell you have had EBD experience and the need for flexibility there is also relevant and evident. The flow of tying it all together over multiple subject areas was also noticable -Nicely done, high quality work Mrs. Z!
Sarah
LZ,
I liked how detail oriented you were in your lesson. Breaking everything down to ten miutes or so is great given the length of the math block. I also thought your use of Dr. Suess was good too. Who doesn't like his books? Lastly, I thought the yoga technique of relaxation could really be good. I might have to learn some yoga poses to incorporate into class. Where can I get one of those relaxation/yoga CDs?
EP
EP - I have a book I'll bring to class next week if I remember. It's very visual with lots of graphics...a quick read. You can make copies at Marian if you want.
Nikki
Nikki Frank's Process of Doing Math
Nikki, Your side note at the bottom of your paper cracked me up! Too true my friend, you don't have a math class yet but if you did and it was like your paper Glasser and Mary Poppins would be proud. I really liked your suggestion about whispering your answers to your students to encourage them to be calm after recess. Also, I loved the understanding your paper showed about working with students with attention issue. Your tactics would prevent frustration for your students and yourself. Silena
BTW: I think something went wrong or I'm confused because when I thought I clicked on Tess's above, your document came up. Weird. ???
Nikki
I thought the idea of you sitting on the carpet with your class is a great idea. The "old" way of teaching has the teacher standing in front of the class, in your class you are literally showing the class that you are at their level. This goes along way toward showing that everyone in the room is equal and that everyone can learn from each other.
Ray
Nikki, I always love watching the calendar time in elementary classrooms. I really enjoyed how you mentioned that students were encouraged to make good choices when they sat next to others. I think too often teachers get upset because students are chatting instead of listening, yet they've never been coached on the fact that they need to make a concious effort on who to sit next to. That they do, in fact, have the opportunity to sit next to who ever they want...it doesn't always have to be their best friend. Your Math classroom sounds very fun! Students are moving around and interacting together. The idea of using the calendar is a great way to make math real-life for the students. Lindsay Zahner
Lori Piechowski's Processes of Doing Math
Lori- I enjoyed your "attention getter" with the series of commands. It offers some sillyness, gives time for everyone to join in, helps students transition into a time of focus, and helps you know if you have everyone's attention. Super cute idea! -Amy
Lori- I like how you would use the popcicle stick method of choosing groups. I have used this before and it is a great way to be sure the groups are random. Ray
Lori- As I read the comments that were written ahead of mine, I see they are very similiar to my own. Your method of gaining the classes attention is one that I think would work in any class level, who doesn't like a quick game of "simon says"! I know I am going to use it this week with my middle school students. The use of popsicle sticks is one that I use often, infact at the start of each year the students take great joy in either decorating a new stick or recycling the one from last year. I would also like to comment on your list of processes. One that I completely missed was the use of math as a language, using the mathematic terms. I was very lacking in not using that in my own. very good job! David
Raquel Bohn's Processes of Doing Math
Raquel - Your lesson idea sounds like a great way to connect math with everyday life. It gives students the message that we can do math anytime, anywhere - and have fun with it! I love the Hershey's Milk Chocolate series of math books. What surprised me when I read your post is that either you have a small time frame within which to work or your students are struggling so that only three different problems would be a big challenge for them.
Lori
Raquel, I have that book and I LOVE that book! Good choice. I certainly would have enjoyed math so much more in elementary if there had been chocolate involved. Great ideas! Silena
Hi Raquel- I remember when you discussed that book in our Literacy class and it was great to be able to see an example of how to use it in a classroom setting. You did a great job of applying the concepts of the book as well as applying accurate assessment techniques. I think the kids would enjoy using the book and the "chocolate" to count with... although I'm pretty sure they would like at least one of those pieces of "chocolate" to be real! - Stephanie
Raquel - I know I am being repetitive of the other posts above but GREAT BOOK CHOICE, I have this book at home for my own children. This book accomplishes so much!!!
Sarah
Amy,
I love the explanation of your 10,9,8... blast off. I think this would be beneficial to students if it was consistently used to remind them of their focus and then lead you right to a simple statement of the lessons objective and then beginning. This gives them the focus and understanding of the control of themselves and their own learning but makes it clear you are ready for the buisness at hand. You also did a wonderful job in the way you displayed your meeting of needs portion - I would love to use this on each lesson plan.
Sarah
Amy- I took notice of the section you wrote on how you planned on motivating your students. I looked at the grade level and I cannot agree more. At this age students love to get involved in discussions. when you give 2nd graders the chance to talk and answer questions in an open forum like the one you are setting up, wonderful things happen. I sometimes wonder what happens to that when they get to middle school and I spend the whole first Trimester getting them to talk again! of course then I have to spend the second one getting them to understand WHEN to talk! David
Amy,
I had no idea that a raisin could be used in so many ways!!! I loved this lesson. The cards are a great way to divide the class into groups. In the beginning of class you laid out the expectations for the groups. Clear expectations are necessary for success. I also liked how you defined an estimation as a reasonabe guess. I've discovered that the concept of a "reasonable" guess is hard for little ones to wrap their minds around. It is fun to throw in some "unreasonable" examples in order to demonstrate the difference between the two. The 1-minute warning is an excellent way to keep the students on track and help them to quickly organize their ideas. It is interesting how you end the class with individuals talking about their feelings when working together as a group. Very fun lesson!
Laura
Rachel Blohm's project
I used an idea from the Burn's book to get started on page 234.
Rachel,
I like your idea for drawing the eyes because it represents the problem visually for students so they can better understand it to solve it. Having students physically represent and solve the problems not only meets their needs for laughter and experimentation, but also their need to be active. By meeting the needs of visual, audio, and kinesthetic learners, hopefully they will learn, well, twice as much!
Lori
Rachel,
I just read Lori's post and realized that we observed the same thing from your lesson. I too liked the idea of using the students' eyes to start the process of multiplying 2's. All the students should have 2 eyes so it should work spectacularly! What better way to get their attention than to use something they have on their own bodies and can see on their peers.
Raquel
Rachel,
There were two things in particular that I liked about your lesson. First, I thought it was great how you asked the "real world" questions about "twice as much." This makes the lesson applicable. Second, I thought it was great how you incorporated the discussion of how they answered their questions on the white board. Again reinforcing what they have learned.
Eric
Rachel,
I'm going to use white boards so much when I have my ownclassroom. They are such a tool in the class and a great way to assess as we go.
Nick
Jim Birch's project
Hi Jim, As I read your lesson, I could just see you in the classroom. The kids are going to love you! I loved your way of allowing the kids to share about their breaks to help redirect them slowing back into learning mode and the way you decided to review and refresh their memories after the break. I wonder if you will use the same hat that you typically use to keep your head warm in class? (: Silena
Jim- I very much agreed with you and Silena that allowing your students a few moments to discuss their break (or even other topics) will help settle them down after a time of high excitement and activity. I use it after we come back from days off as well. The activity you chose was very interesting and I could see students of this age participating. I reread it to determine your source of assessment. I think that listening to their discussions while playing the game will truly show thier depth of learning and understanding. The leader's of each group will naturally raise their hands to answer, but hopefully all will participae when in their groups. I also use my wide brimmed straw hat from my geology field days to have students choose topics, groups, and any number of other things. The students always get a thrill when they see it sitting on my work table ready for action. David
Jim, I like how you want to ease the students back into school work with a fun math game to get them going again on what you taught before break. Great idea! I also agree with David that having the students talk about their break for a few minutes is a great way to get that out of the way so the students can focus on school work again. I never thought of something like that but it makes a lot of sense to help keep the students in learning mode.
Rachel Blohm
Stephanie Feuerstein's project
Stephanie,
I really liked your idea considering their compliementary abilities for the pre-established partners along with including that the pairs may be based on a mentor situation. Sometimes, that can be so true in a classroom - mentoring among the students! A concept that I hadn't considered for 1st grade math is using the students themselves for an addition/subtraction activity. How better to get them actively involved in the process of learning!
Raquel
Stephanie,
I really liked your idea of using the children as the "counting tool." Not only does this force the kids into paying attention and being part of the problem, but it also teaches them teamwork in trying to figure out the equation. Lastly, since first graders are usually eager to learn and participate, using the strategy of the quiet group gets to answer might work.
Eric
Stephanie, I like how you pair up your students with mentors or those that can help each other out. I think that is a great way for students to feed off each other's knowledge. And pulling groups aside sounds like your doing something like a writer's workshop but for math and i think that's a great idea! It's another way to assess knowledge and give the individual attention to some students that may really need it.
Rachel Blohm
David Becker's Project....
Dave
I agree with you about the importance of welcoming your students into your classroom. It lets them know you care and helps build a sense of community that is so important in making all students achieve their best.
Ray
Dave,
I have long been an advocate for teachers greeting the students in the hallway. The middle school I currently work at, the teachers are in the hallways between the classes or at least standing at their doorways. When I worked at the high school level, this was not the case and I can tell a difference in the sense of community because of it. Granted, the kids are different and so are the teachers. I agree that you learn various dynamics of the students by being the hallway.
Regarding your attention grabber of the story about the International Space Station, that got MY attention! Corresponding and working with the other core teachers for cross curricular correlation is fabulous! It sounds like the kids would learn about the metric system with various applications...not just science which will only reinforce for them the importance of this knowledge.
Raquel